BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A Sylacauga man today pleaded guilty to
a scheme to defraud the Tennessee Valley Authority of $72,000, the U.S.
Attorney's Office announced.

Frank Lewis Conn, 49, entered his plea before U.S. District
Judge Karon O. Bowdre to one count of wire fraud, according to a statement from
U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance. He is to be sentenced May 28.

Conn was indicted in October related to an alleged scheme to
defraud the TVA by submitting fraudulently inflated invoices for removing
vegetation from power lines and other TVA property between February 2009 and
October 2009, according the statement. During that time, Conn was an owner and
manager of Conn Equipment Rental Company, which was doing business as
Vegetation Management Services.

In exchange for his plea to one count of his indictment,
federal prosecutors dismissed the other four
counts, according to court records.